Fujifilm announces development of EF-X500 flash

Among all of its new cameras announcements, Fujifilm also made public the development of a new external flash. The EF-X500 is a high-end, weather-sealed model with a guide number of 50m at ISO 100, the ability to control up to three sets of TTL off-camera strobes, and a high-speed sync mode that supports the X-Pro2's maximum 1/8000 sec shutter speed. The zoom head range is 24-105mm equiv., and can go as wide as 20mm with the wide panel pulled into place.

It has a large, backlit display on its back side along with a control dial for easy setting adjustment. As you'd expect, the flash can tilt and rotate - 10° down, 90° up, 135° left and 180° right. It uses four AA batteries and also supports Fujifilm's EF-BP1 external battery pack.

The EF-X500 is expected to ship in May at a price yet to be determined.

Press Release:

FUJIFILM ANNOUNCES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW HOT-SHOE MOUNT FLASH FOR X-SERIES CAMERAS

A new high-end external flash is being developed to complement FUJIFILM X cameras with high-speed synchronization and multiple flash TTL auto functions

Valhalla, N.Y., January 14, 2016 – FUJIFILM North America Corporation, a leader in premium mirrorless cameras, today announced that it is developing a new high-end external shoe mount flash, the FUJIFILM EF-X500. The EF-X500 allows users to expand their photography with high-speed synchronization and multiple flash TTL auto functions. It will be added to the premium X-Series camera accessory line-up in May 2016. Price to be confirmed.

Designed with FUJIFILM X cameras in mind The new FUJIFILM EF-X500 external flash will feature a low-profile, premium design that is perfectly suited to complement the style of the compact and lightweight X-Series cameras.

With high-speed synchronization (FP), the new EF-X500 supports the 1/8000 sec. shutter speed featured in the new, flagship model FUJIFILM X-Pro2, as well as other Fujifilm X cameras.

The multiple flash-unit TTL auto function unleashes users' creativity by allowing them to control any lighting conditions so it will accompany their X-Series camera in all low light and studio applications.

Fujifilm has added a weather and dust resistant build making the EF-X500 flash the perfect companion for the FUJIFILM X-T1 and X-Pro2 to further enhance their rugged, weather resistant capabilities.

Comments

Are you kidding? I've been waiting for a new flash with built-in radio transmitter for 2 years. And now you annouce it with optical trigger. Nodoby use an optical trigger in a modern world, especially a professional photographers! If you have some problems with frequency ranges allowed to use in different countries just do 3-4 options for a new flash (optical and different frequences) and that's it! So dissapointed

Some say flash was achilles heel of Fuji X system. Now I believe them. Better stick to current cactus v6 while wait for fuji next 'next generation' flash system done right. Come on fuji you only had one job, If you do, just do it right. We dont mind if you charge extra premium to insert RF. If your product is good sure people will buy.

I have the i40 and it is quite unreliable. When I put it on my X-T1 half the time it won't fire. I have had greater success turning the camera off and then connecting the i40, then turn the camera back on.

I don't use my cameras much unless someone is paying me to use them (as it is my business) and to have the i40 not work when I need it quickly has been a problem more than once. It is also a bit cheap in build quality (flimsy) and not weather sealed and not very powerful for when I have needed the power. I am looking forward to a new flash that is built to be a work horse and not just a nice add-on (which the i40 has been).

My deal-breaker with this is not that it lacks RF (for reasons I've explained). It's that it doesn't appear to have either a PC or (preferably) a mini-jack socket, so I couldn't use it with my PWs even if I wanted to. I have almost completely migrated to Cactus triggers that work the hot-shoe, but there are still times when only PWs get the job done and if this doesn't accept them, it's not going to fit my working style.

So Fuji... I understand all the reasons why it's IR, but pretty please, add a jack socket (at least) to the flash!

I have several third party Nikon dedicated flash that work seamlessly with the iTTL when mounted on the hotshoe or remotely with the SU-800 Commander. When mounted on the hotshoe, these speedlight can work as the master for the slaves. However, when a pc (synch cord) is use to connect the camera and the speedlight, the iTTL does not work. Would that, perhaps, be the reason for the absence of PC terminal?

It has been about ten years since I had a Fuji so I don't remember if my Fuji had a TTL system. What I remember is that all my Nikkor lens were fully compatible with the Fuji.

I have used the Nissin i40 with my external flash as well. I mount the i40 on the X-T1 and have it in TTL. I then plug my transmitter into the little flash port on the X-T1 (front of body) and it fires my wireless receiver attached to my other flash. I do this when shooting dances at weddings. It works fine. I have a little bracket adapter that connects with double sided tape to my i40. It is a clean setup.

Fuji adding a flash in 2016 with optical triggering-INSTEAD OF RADIO-I find it to be ridiculous, embarrassing, and an insult to their professional camera, the xpro 2....and I like fuji by the way....

Yes, i agree that this optical flash they plan to bring in may is better than the cheapo ones they currently have; however, please let us remember that this is 2016. Why would they utilize an old/archaic technology....especially, someone like fuji who is admired by so many and is getting the attention of many photographers, including even proffesionals who jump ship from canon and nikon....

Utilizing optical trigerring in 2016 certainly does NOT convey INNOVATION....

When i heard about this fuji flash being introduced, which will be able to do hyper sync, i got excited....but when I read that it will have OPTICAL trigerring i became dismayed...what a shame on fuji, which is such a reputable company of quality gear, to resort to an antiquated system...

My suggestion to u would b to go on youtube and watch billy's video on the xpro 2 and put a comment abt how dissapointed u r for the fujifilm ef-x500 flash having optical trigerring and suggest that they make it with RADIO triggering....who knows, maybe they will listen to us...

There are many disadvantages to optical triggering....just google and see....or check out on you tube...the only disadvantage for radio trigerring is the price...that's the only one....and if Yongnuo could put radio triggering in their cheapo flashes, why cant fuji do that???? Or, why cant fuji talk to phottix or pocket wizard so they could make a proffesional flash system with the nikon or canon caliber???

Why do you think it has taken Nikon more than 10 years to move from IR i-TTL to wireless? There sheer cost and time involved with international RF licensing and approval is why. You can get US approval and 'apply' that to other countries (as Yongnuo has), but that's not the way Japanese companies work.

Better to at least have some kind of wireless TTL (even if IR) and go through years required in getting all of the different EU and Asian and Russian governing bodies on side, than wait another six years for approval.

One of my first jobs was with Roberts Radios soldering up IF stages. Even then, it would take so long for France to approve something that was approved in Germany, Italy, the Benelux countries, Switzerland, Spain, etc, etc, that it frequently wasn't worth the effort. And, according to my sources in this sector, things have got a LOT worse since I left. Especially if you are making transceivers.

There are still advantages to IR triggers. You can sync at a faster shutter speed (I doubt you'd be able to use the 1/250s sync speed of the XPro-2 with RF as it stands) and you don't need to use a module in the hot-shoe or in a port. As the XPro-2 has no on-board flash though, this last is academic as you still need to use some kind of IR triggering flash in the hot-shoe!

RF triggers are also difficult to roll out internationally because allocated frequencies are not the same in every country. Companies like Cactus, Canon, Nikon, and Pocket Wizard cope by making region-specific flash triggers. The time taken to get modules (even someone else's modules, because you are still making a radio-frequency broadcast device) sanctioned by the local authorities on a country-by-country basis is crazy.

I'd imagine third-party brands will develop a set of modules for this system, especially as E-TTL and soon iTTL users increasingly switch to proprietary RF triggering.

scruntysIR triggering has so many problems - that I'm glad many systems have stepped away from it.also I fail to see why a well implemented Wireless trigger say, based on a WiFi Standard? (don't know why it is not common) or something operating in the GHz range would have troubles at higher sync speeds...IR can suffer from half a ton of interferences... and have fund backlighting your subjects with an IR trigger...Or actual reach (as in distance)... it's really inferior.

The advantage to FM (or IR) triggering is it's a pulse-based system - the transmitter can send a pulse (or series of pulses) regarding flash intensity to the receiver in a few nanoseconds, and the flash can still trigger in time to catch the shutter.

WiFi and Bluetooth have far too much inherent latency for flash triggering. 'Low latency' in both systems is around 0.5s, but for different reasons. WiFi latency is caused by lost data packets requiring retransmission, while Bluetooth's adaptive frequency hopping system means accurate synchronised events are impossible: the devices are just as likely to be changing frequencies at the point they should be triggering. AptX overcomes some of this, but is audio based and brings the latency down to around 0.4s - better, but still nowhere near fast enough.

This latency issue may ultimately be resolved, but it's a tough nut to crack.

I agree it's beyond me that Fuji comes out with a flash like that. Innovation? I stick with YongNuo. For me they work and the latest one's have build in Radio control at a cost far far below Canon or Nikon. I wonder if they did any market research.?

scrunty,thank's.. .I was not aware of Wifi having a 0,5s latency......But then there still is the classic GHz-range (2...) remote RF Triggers.... I've got a set for the studio lights, and they work fast and easy... even if the key light is outside of regular IR "visibility", or the background light is simply "blocked"...

Does the AF assist lamp in the external flash work with af assist in low light? As far as I know there isnt a single mirrorless system that has a fully compatible external flash that can use an external af assist beam with the body.

I haven't found an answer as to why not a single mirrorless system has a working AF assist lamp on flash units. Even Sony own HVL-F43M and F60M that works great on A-mount cameras aren't fully compatible with E-mount cameras, even if you put A-mount lenses on it via LA-EA4 which should put the camera as close as an A-mount camera again.

Actually Samsung flashes have an AF assit light on the flash and it seems to be the only mirrorless system to have it, albeit Samsung may be exiting the mirrorless game, a shame really, they have excellent lenses and one of the best apsc bodies.

Dumb question risk: Why does anyone release something like this with AA batteries and not a modern Litium Ion (or Polymer) battery? Most Fuji X cameras use the WP-126 battery, why not use that instead?

It's been a while since I've seen any digital camera use AA batteries, why do flashes still cling to those?

Safety might be one of the issue due to which designers are choosing AA batteries over Li-ion/Li-Poly batteries. Lithium chemistry cells are quite unstable so unless LiFePO4 cells dont catch up its highly unlikely that there will be mass adoption of Li chemistry cells for flashes.

All of the above makes sense and I use eneloop in my tiny EF-X20 flash as well. However as a flash coming from Fuji for the X system that unlike other vendors largely shares a battery (X-Pro1, X-Pro2, X-T10, X-T1, X-E1, X-E2, X-E2s all share the same battery). Are you saying that it wouldn't make a smaller flash unit if that battery would be used?

Anyone know if this is a Fuji developed/built flash or a rebranded Metz or other brand? Maybe this one is really all Fuji, which would be nice. I don't keep up with flashes so I can't tell if this one looks very similar to an already known brand/model that was rebranded as Fuji.

Products that transmit radio are more expensive to bring to market because they require certification (FCC in US and similar in other countries). Camera makers, except for Nikon and Canon, have little or no profit these days.

Companies specialized in accessories often have many products using the same radio module. Thus, one certification enables multiple products on the market. For camera companies the certification would be good just for one or two flashes - big overhead.

I'd rather keep it all separate. If the radio part goes out, then you have to send the whole flash in. IF you want to get it fixed. Keep to things like PWs and you just get another PW. If this Fuji unit is a quality p product, I'd get it in a heartbeat over the cheap Yongnou pieces of garbage that don't have a very long lifespan with busy shooters. But that's just my opinion. For now, my old Metz on Auto words just fine.

micksh6 may well be correct as to the reason they have eschewed radio but my main reason for buying this flash over what I already have would be using the HSS off camera for fast lens portraiture in outdoor conditions where strong sunlight tends to interfere with the optical systems. It also limits it to line of sight, effectively, indoors.

My Yongnuo 560 III & IV's are cheap but have yet to make the garbage can - though to be fair to photolando I may not have had enough time with them to hit problems.

Bluetooth and Wi-fi are radio devices too, so the price should be the same.And Bluetooth is too power hungry, while Wi-fi is overcrowded, but could be a good standard, since you would be able to control with any device, maybe latency is an issue.

I realize there are issues and reasons for choices. But there seems to be alot excuses being made that seem fairly flimsy in 2015 when you consider what can be done and what should be done. Yongnuos are pretty amazing. I have had them for years and have been just as reliable as my Canon Flashes. My neewer TT850 flashes are amazing with lithium batteries and I have had them almost 18 months now. They did have some issues with batteries initially and solved it quick. Letting Fuji off the hook for something that should and can be done easily by lesser companies is not the right answer.

Probably a beginner question regarding wireless - does this mean that the flash can be located anywhere in the room, and it can be triggered with the camera, within a certain range? Does the camera need to be wireless capable?

I believe this is a flash trigger and not a radio trigger. With flash triggers you will need to use a flash using the camera's hotshoe to trigger the remote flash and it has to be within the line of sight. You will also need to use compatible flashes.

Well, actually optical remote control of flashes can and often will work reliably also thru reflected light, particularly when operating in a relatively small confined space like a room in an apartment.

If optical communication is used in outdoor environment or there are very strong other light sources like sunlight coming thru windows then direct optical path from master flash to the slaves is required for reliability.

I have used optical remote control (Canon) successfully even in a church, so I wouldn’t necessarily deem this as a disadvantage, especially because optical communication is free from regional regulatory problems and your neighbours’ WLAN, microwave oven etc. won’t ruin your day.

*line of sight of the remote flash sensor - includes reflected light, yes. The pro/con is that the on camera flash will light your subject as well in close distances. And as mentioned outdoor setups are limited.

So you need a camera with a flash to trigger this flash, if I understand correctly. But the Pro2 has no flash, so this cannot be triggered remotely. It can be wired to the camera, I assume, OR mounted on the camera, but it can't function remotely, correct?

What one will need for wireless remote control is any compatible (that would be a Fujifilm system) flash that can operate in master mode (or a pure remote controller unit without flash functionality).

This Fujifilm flash has both master and remote modes selectable, so one would need for example at least two of these; one flash unit attached to the camera working as a master and the other unit as a slave in remote mode.

BTW, I don’t know how Fujifilm has implemented it and I have not exclusively tested it with my Canon flashes, but my real life experience is that the master flash doesn’t light up the subject because there is a small intentional delay after the master’s communication optical pulse train has completed transferring remote commands. I should specifically test this to be certain.

I used to have a 7d and still have the 580ex ii, and the way it worked if I remember correctly was that if I had the pop up flash acting only as master, the pre flash would send the settings to the 580ex. Then a second low powered flash would fire from the pop up flash to fire the remote flash.

I have the xt-1 now and recently been playing around with the 580ex ii remotely using yongnuo 622c kit triggers. Works nicely.

but why the hell do all on-camera flashes have to look like they came to us in a delorean?! i mean its not the 80s anymore...a bit more compact, quality and design isn´t something bad...its 2016 after all.

and why is there no radio communication? even those cheapo china things can do it pretty reliable...

To me this Fuji flash looks like a tool with pleasing and stylish utilitarian form language. By the way the compactness comes with limitations, particularly within the power-recharge department and heat management. One can’t have it all, I’m afraid.

Even if it doesn't have radio capabilities (nearly all Nikon and Canon units lack radio capability too), this is a truly massive step up from the dreadful Sunpak-built units that they have been selling.